


The Prom Debacle

by Molybdochalkos



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, And I'm not gonna start now, Because I've never had an original idea in my life, F/M, High School AU, Modern AU, Rayllum Birthday Bash (The Dragon Prince), Teenagers being hot messes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25431064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Molybdochalkos/pseuds/Molybdochalkos
Summary: Callum thought that going to prom with his best friend would be fun. And it was, right up until she got thrown in the lake.[Written for the Rayllum Birthday Bash, day 21: Alternate Universe]
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 69





	The Prom Debacle

**Author's Note:**

> If there's one thing In life I understand, it's my own dumb ass, and I know that I could easily spend another month tinkering with this thing before posting it. But I promised myself I'd post at least one thing for the birthday bash, so here it is! I'm shoving this baby bird out of the nest.

Within minutes of chasing after Rayla into the forest, Callum knew he wasn’t going to be getting the deposit back on his rented tuxedo. His shoes had already been ruined by the lake as he’d helped Rayla out of the water, but now they were muddy up to the knee. And he must have gotten too close to something with thorns, because there was a tear in one of his sleeves. Also his corsage was missing, which was a damn shame. He’d liked it.

And for all of that, there was no sign of Rayla.

He had only been a few seconds behind her as she’d run off into the woods, trying to put as much distance between herself and Kasef and everybody else as possible. But even running barefoot, Rayla was miles faster than him. 

Just when he was about to declare himself thoroughly lost, Callum found himself at the edge of Crater Lake. In the distance, he could see the pavilion where prom was still going on, and just barely catch the sound of music and people. 

People that had just stood by and watched as Kasef and his friends had grabbed Rayla and thrown her in the  _ fucking  _ lake.

Callum hoped that, years from now, they would all look back at this night and hate themselves for everything they hadn’t done.

A bit of pale color out of the corner of his eye stopped Callum’s hate spiral. There, a few hundred feet away on the edge of the lake, was what had to be Rayla. Callum finally let go of the breath he’d been holding, and made his way towards her.

He picked his way through the untamed growth, further ruining his tuxedo but far past the point of caring. Even though he had been making enough sound for a pack of wild boars, Rayla didn’t look up as he approached. She didn’t even lift her head until he called her name.

“Callum,” she said, sounding surprised. “You… followed me?”

“Of course I did,” he said.

“Idiot,” Rayla said, and for once, it sounded like she really meant it. “Just - leave me alone. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

Instead, Callum sat down next to her on the damp grass. Rayla was still soaking wet from her trip into the lake, and the lovely lilac dress she’d been so proud of was ruined even worse than Callum’s tuxedo. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her makeup streaked away from her eyes from a mixture of lake water and tears. “I don’t care,” he said. “Rayla, I’m here for you.”

“I’m a mess,” Rayla moaned, wiping her cheeks. The motion smudged her already-running makeup, and left behind trails of pond scum.

Callum pulled out the colorful pocket square that Harrow had insisted would make him “the bee’s knees”, and offered it to her. Rayla stared at it for a second before she accepted. The decorative fabric wasn’t very absorbent, and by the time she was done, her face wasn't much cleaner. The handkerchief was unquestionably ruined. “Sorry,” Rayla said, returning it.

“I was never going to wear it again anyway,” he said with a shrug, tucking the wet lump back into his chest pocket. He didn’t feel bad about adding one more mess.

“It’s not that. I’m sorry for getting you mixed up in all this,” Rayla said. “Tonight’s been a nightmare, and you wouldn't be here if I hadn't asked.”

It was true that Callum would have happily spent the night at home if Rayla hadn’t convinced him to come with her (“As friends, of course.” “Of course.”), but still. “I mean, I was having fun. Up until Kasef…”

Rayla picked up where he trailed off. “Threw me in the fucking lake?”

“Yeah,” Callum said. “And for that,  _ I’m  _ sorry.”

Rayla shook her head. “You’ve got nothing to feel sorry for.”

“No, I do,” he insisted. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them.”

Rayla shook her head at him, before returning her gaze to some point over the lake. “I saw you trying. Not much you could have done when that neanderthal friend of his had you in a headlock.”

“I still feel guilty.”

“Don’t. There’s only one person to blame for everything that happened tonight, and guess what?” She jerked a thumb at herself, and put on a fake smile. “It’s  _ this  _ dumb bitch.”

Callum spluttered. “You - how can you even say that? You can’t seriously think it’s your fault you got thrown in the lake?”

“No,” Rayla said simply. She scooped a rock up off the ground, and lobbed it into the water. “It’s my stupid fault for even coming here in the first place. For thinking Kasef could act civil for one night.”

It was true they’d been butting heads since Rayla had transferred in at the start of the year, but it had never been this serious. “He won’t get away with it,” Callum insisted. “This was  _ way  _ too public. Literally everybody saw, there’s-”

“I  _ know, _ ” Rayla snapped violently. “I know everybody saw. That’s the problem! You think I’m out here sobbing my eyes out just because I got tossed in a lake?” She grabbed a rock off the ground and lobbed it out, making another circle of ripples. “Two  _ hundred  _ people stood there and watched while Kasef and his thugs threw me. Two  _ hundred,  _ and you were the only one who tried to stop them.”

Callum clenched his teeth. He understood Rayla's fury exactly. He had been forced to watch, caught in a headlock by one of Kasef's friends, as the arrogant prick and his cronies had carried Rayla to the edge of the short dock. Nobody had done anything more than call out, “Kasef, put her down,” or “Will you knock it off?”. He might have even seen some people with their phones out, recording what happened, and Callum’s stomach started to boil with hate.

“And the worst part is, there’s some stupid part of me,” Rayla continued, tossing another rock. “This bitchy little voice in the back of my head that’s saying, what if there’s a  _ reason  _ none of them wanted to help me? I know I’m not exactly the most widely-loved person in school, but what if there’s some part of me that’s so ugly or wrong or mean that they all felt justified watching Kasef dunk me? What if it’s  _ me? _ ”

“Oh, bull  _ shit _ .”

Rayla’s arm stopped, mid-toss. “Wait, what?”

“You heard me. Bull. Shit,” Callum said. He was surprised at how his voice sounded in his own ears. “There’s  _ nothing  _ wrong with you and this wasn’t your fault. Kasef is a bastard, and everyone who didn’t try to stop him is an asshole. And you, you’re…” Callum clawed at the air, as if the right words might float into his grasp. “Rayla, I’ve thought you were incredible since the day we met. You’re smart, and funny, and nice, and tough, and beautiful-”  _ Where the hell did  _ _ that _ _ come from?  _ “and so many other things that I can’t even think of right now. You’re incredible, and if  _ they  _ can’t see that-” He flicked his wrist at the distant pavilion. “Then that’s their problem, not yours.”

For a few seconds, there was silence except for the hammering of Callum’s pulse in his ears. He couldn’t put a name to where that outburst had come from, and he couldn’t explain why he felt like he’d just run a marathon. Then, Rayla said, “You really mean that, don’t you.” It wasn’t exactly a question.

“Every word,” Callum confirmed. He grabbed her hand, not caring about how cold or slimy it felt, and squeezed. “Rayla, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

Rayla smiled, and even through the muck and grime Callum could see her cheeks flushing. She squeezed his hand back. “Thank you, Callum. Really.”

“Any time,” Callum said. “But right now, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re gonna go back to my house, get into some clean clothes, order a pizza with all the anchovies you can stomach, watch whatever weird anime you want to see me suffer through, and pretend that we never went to prom at all. How does that sound?”

Rayla smiled at him in a way that made Callum’s heart  _ twist _ . “Sounds like what we should have done in the first place,” she said.

“Thought you’d like it,” Callum said, levering himself to his feet. “C’mon, let’s see if we can find our way back without getting eaten by a bear or something.”

Rayla laughed, allowing Callum to help her up, and he marveled, not for the first time, at how light she was. It took almost no effort to pull her to her feet, and she somehow made it look as graceful as dancing. Right up until her foot slipped on a patch of wet grass. Callum grabbed her elbow to steady her without even thinking about it. “You okay?” he asked, distantly realizing how close they were standing.

Rayla met his eyes as she straightened, and Callum realized three things.

First, there was no more denying it: he had fallen in love with Rayla. He couldn’t pin down exactly when that had happened, and maybe that was right? Maybe there hadn’t been a single, definitive turning point from platonic to romantic. Maybe it had been a smooth gradient, with things adding up bit by bit until he was unquestionably in love with her.

Second, everything he had just said sounded a lot like a confession of love. And maybe it had been, but he’d been more confessing to himself, and trying to make Rayla feel better. The last thing he wanted to do was add a layer of ‘my best friend has romantic feelings towards me that I don’t return’ onto everything else that had happened to Rayla tonight. 

Third, they were standing on the banks of a moonlit lake. Quiet except for the distant strains of music, and alone except for the fireflies. At that moment, Callum couldn’t think of a more, well,  _ romantic  _ scene. And they were standing so close together, and even covered in pond scum Rayla was  _ so  _ beautiful, and wait what was she doi-

Callum blinked. The universe came back. Rayla pulled away from him, a satisfied smile on her lips. Lips which, Callum now knew, were warm, and soft, and capable of turning his brain off.

“I’ve wanted to do that for a while,” Rayla said, her voice careful and tender. 

“Gwbluh,” Callum said. He was still trying to figure out what the hell had just happened, even though he damn well knew.

Rayla had kissed him.

She had  _ kissed  _ him.

It had barely been more than a peck, just a simple press of lips to lips. It had lasted only a second, but it somehow felt like it had gone on forever. In a good way. And now, in a post-being-kissed world, Rayla was standing right in front of him, waiting, expectant, and Callum was sputtering like a fish.

She smiled impishly at him. "What's the matter? I leave you speechless?" she asked.

Callum forced himself to act, and made the stupidest decision of his life.

He took a step back, suddenly and desperately in need of some space. A look of shock and hurt crossed Rayla's face, and she twitched like she was stopping herself from reaching out to him “What?” she asked. “What’s - what’s wrong?”

Callum swallowed past the knot his throat had tied itself into. This was a delicate situation. He had to choose his words carefully. He wanted to explain to her that he wasn’t trying to take advantage of her emotional state to coerce her into kissing him. That this night had gone badly enough already without adding a coating of teenage relationship drama. That he valued her friendship and wellbeing. That he’d low-key like to have a do-over later, when they were both in a better place both emotionally and physically.

“I wasn’t trying to-” Callum swallowed. “I wasn’t trying to - I didn’t want you to kiss me.”

Even as the words were tumbling out of his mouth, Callum knew they were the wrong ones. Rayla reacted like she’d been punched in the stomach, and really, that might have been more kind. “Oh no,” she said. “Oh no, Callum, I’m - I’m so sorry, I thought - all those things you were saying, it sounded like-”

“No, I meant what I said, I, I did,” Callum said. He took a step towards her, and she took another one away. “Just not - no, what I was just saying, right now, I just used the wrong words, like, I just meant it like, I wasn’t - you’re - tonight’s been bad, and you’re my best friend, and-”

Rayla was in full retreat, now. “Oh god, I fucked up,” she said, the raw hurt in her voice driving a cold icicle into Callum’s gut. “I thought you were saying - Callum, I’m  _ so sorry- _ ”

“No, Rayla, that’s not what I, I’m trying to say-”

“I get it, I do, I’m sorry-”

“Just, just give me a second-” A step forward, two steps back.

“I’d just been hoping, god I’m so stupid, I - this was a mistake, all of it, I’m  _ so sorry -  _ ”

“Rayla,  _ listen to me-” _

Without even thinking, Callum made his second mistake of the night. He grabbed Rayla’s arm. He wasn’t trying to be violent, and it was hardly the first time they’d been physical. Still, Rayla’s reaction was immediate. She took one step, twisted, pulled, and Callum was airborne.

The lake was surprisingly cold for the middle of June, but at least it was shallow. Callum flailed, trying to find his bearings. He was able to get himself onto his hands and knees, and coughed out the mouthful of lake water he hadn’t been expecting. He looked up, his hair plastered to his scalp, and saw Rayla, covering her mouth in horror. He tried to say something, anything to reassure her he was okay, that this wasn’t her fault, but it was lost in another fit of coughing.

“I’m so sorry, Callum,” was the last thing he heard her say, before she took to her heels and vanished into the woods. 

“Rayla!” he finally managed to shout, but it was too late.

She was gone.


End file.
